Jean Monestime, chairman of the Miami-Dade commission, made it official Thursday night by telling Democrats he would not run for mayor in 2016.

According to his prepared remarks in front of a gathering of fellow Democrats at the City Hall restaurant in Miami, Monestime said he was "greatly honored" about recruitment efforts to be his party's challenger in a bid to unseat Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

"While I am humbled by the suggestion that I personally enter the campaign for Mayor," Monestime said, according to the remarks, "I believe much more can be accomplished in the year ahead by expanding my campaign for greater prosperity as the Chairman of Miami-Dade County."

His speech made official what the chair of Florida's Democratic Party said earlier in the week: Monestime had decided not to run for mayor. It also ended about a week of political speculation and back-room scrambling after the Miami Herald published the first story revealing that Monestime was seriously considering a recruitment efforts by state Democrats to challenge Gimenez, a Republican.